Wheelbarrow



L. LANDKAMER. WHEELBARROW. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.Z3| I921.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

- 15w LA/VflhA/WEP INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEY.

LEVI LANDKAMEB, 0F ALEXANDRIA,

'WHEELBARROW.

Application filed September 23, 1921. Serial No. 502,706.

To (IL/Z vii/mm it may concern Be it known that 1, Law .l JAxDliAtllEli,a citizen of the United States, residing at Alexandria, in the county ofThayer and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Wheelbarrows, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wheelbarrows, and more particularly to the typesof wheelbarrows used by contractors for filling the forms in concretework. The wheelbarrows at present used for this Work were perfected forother uses long before the extensive use of concrete in buildingstructures, and were adopted without change by concrete workers merelybecause they served the purpose better than anything else that wasreadily obtainable, even though contractors generally recognized theirinherent defects. My purpose is to produce a wheelbarrow having severalnovel features which render it especially serviceable in work of theclass for which it is designed, and it is also my purpose to produce adevice which can be attached to wheelbarrows already in use to make themserve their purpose better than at present.

In the drawings,

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a wheelbarrow with one form of my fulcrumcurve attached and in use, Figure 1 showing the position of thewheelbarrow before dumping and Figure 2 showing the position of thewheelbarrow during the dumping operation.

Figures 3 and 4 show two of the numerous possible modifications of thefulcrum curve. i

The wheelbarrow has a body or receptacle 1.0, handles 11, legs 12 and awheel 13. Braces 14 and 15 give rigidity to the legs and handle portionsrespectively. All of this however is of common construction found innearly all wheelbarrows and is mentioned here only to bring out theapplications of my invention.

(oncrete walls are cast by pouring wet or semi-wet concrete into formsmade by nailing horizontal boards 16 on exterior uprights ortWo-by-fours 17. The concrete is usually transported from the mixer tothe forms in wheelbarrows, but whereas it takes only one man to push theloaded wheelbarrow it generally requires two to dump it, because of theweight and awkwardness of the load. My invention makes it possible forone to dump the whe lb rrow as easily as it is for him to push it, andthe one man alone can perform the operation with less loss of time andwaste of concrete than under the methods heretofore employed.

One form of the invention resides in piece of strap iron, steel or othersuitable material which is shaped so as to constitute a fulcrum for theWheelbarrow in dumping, and means for securing it to a wheelbarrow.Merely by way of illustration I have shown a few of the forms which itmay take. In Figure 1 I have shown a piece of strap iron bent into asemi-circular loop 18, a brace portion 19 and a securing portion 20.This is firmly secured either singly or in pairs or more to the frontend of a wheelbarrow. In order to avoid waste in dumping, the fulcrum ispreferably so placed that the front or spout portion of the wheelbarrowwill advance far enough in dumping to clear the wall.

Some wheelbarrows have large wheels or they have wheels which areconsiderably in advance of the spout, -My invention can be applied tosuch wheelbarrows in numerous ways, one of which is shown in Figure 3.An additional spout 21 with a lip portion 22 is riveted or otherwisesecured to the front end of the wheelbarrow. My invention in the formshown in Figures 1 and 2 with its curved fulcrum 18, brace 19 andsecuring end 20 incombination with the spout 21 can be readily attachedto many .of the wheelbarrows now in use. If the spout 21 is pressed orrolled out of heavy steel, the fulcrum curve corresponding to 18 can beproduced inthe body of the lip or spout. If desired, the material in thespout portion may be folded back on itself and then bent into curve,brace and securing portions. In this case the finished appearance incross section will be similar tothat in Figure l, but the spout andcurve will be integral and consist of a single piece ofmetal. Similarresults can of course be secured by embodying the fulcrum curve in thewheelbarrow at the time of manufacture.

In Figures 1,. 2, and 3 I have shown curves which are fixed in positionto the wheelbarrow. Figure 4 shows a construction involving a pivotedfulcrum. Numeral 10 inclicates the front portion of the body of awheelbarrow. The hook 18" is secured either pivotally or rigidly to therod 23 which is secured to the wheelbarrow by means of braces 24:. Inthe use of this form, the hook itself catches over the edge of the wallwhile the lower end of the pivoted hook rests against the side of thewall and the entire book portion remains Stationary while thewheelbarrow swings on the pivot 23. This form is of course also capableof many variations. For example a prong or other pointed element may besubstituted for the hook l8 and the prong when thrust into the lumber ofthe wall, will prevent slippage in much the same way that the hook does.

I have shown and described a few-0t the forms of my invention as appliedto the lip or spout portion of a wheelbarrow, but it is evident that theinvention will function if placed on other parts of the Wheelbarrow.With braces similar to 24 and of appropriate length the fulcrum may beplaced as low as desired. In pipe frame wheelbarrows where the pipepasses around in front of the wheel, a pivoted collar with the form ofhook shown in Figure 4 or a fixed collar with the hook as in liigure 1may be secured to the pipe just in advance of the wheel. Nor do I desireto limit my rights to the use of my invention on a wheelbarrow, since itcould be applied to many other forms of dumping receptacles with equalutility.

Another important feature of my wheelbarrow resides in the relativedimensions with relation to the work which the wheelbarrow is toperform. Lumber comes in lengths of an even number of feet, and for thisreason the tworbyefours of the forms are set two feet apart on centers.The present wheelbarrows used by concrete workers were developed forbrick and stone masons. but because of their width they do not dumpeasily when filling forms. I overcome this difiiculty by constructingthe body narrow enough to fit in between the uprights.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent of the United States is z.-

1. In combination with a. wheelbarrow which is partially supported on atransverse whee-l axis and which has means at its rear end for enablinga walking attendant to partially support and to propel the wheelbarrow adevice on the front end of the wheel: barrow with reference to its lineof movement, said device being adapted to directly engage in pivotalrelationship the upper edge of a wall at any desired point, whereby theattendant can dump the wheelbarrow by swinging it through an are havingthe upper edge of the wall as its center. the device preventing slippageat all points in the ar cu ate movement of the wheelbarrow.

2. In combination with a wheelbarrow of the kind comprising a receptaclewheelmounted on an axis transverse to its line ofmovement but forward ofits center of gravity and being supported at its rear end and propelledby a walking attendant, a device at the forward end of the wheelbarrowfor directly engaging the upper edge of a wall at any desired point inpivotal relationship whereby the walking attendant can dump the contentsof the receptacle over the edge of the wall at any desired point, saiddevice being so formed that the wheelbarroi'v will be prevented fromsliding forward when it is in its vertical position.

3. A receptacle having a dumping spout at its forward end, a wheelsupport forward of its center of gravity, means rearward of the centerof gravity for enabling a walking attendant to partially support and to'propel the receptacle on its wheel support, a

device associated with the spout of the receptacle for directly andpivotally engaging the upper edge of a wall at any desired point thearrangement being such that the walking attendant can dump the contentsof the re ceptacle over the edge of the wall by swing;- ing the rear endof the receptacle upwardly through an are about the forward end of thereceptacle as the center of the swinging movement, said devicepreventing downward slippage of the receptacle at the beginning of thedumping operation and preventing also forward slippage on the edge ofthe wall when the receptacle is in vertical position at the end of thedumping operation.

l. A fulcrum attachment for a dumping receptacle comprising an invertedU-shaped hook, a brace member projecting from the lower extremity of oneof the legs of the said U-shaped hook at an angle less than a rightangle to the said. leg the free end of said brace member being bent intoa plane which if projected will be tangent to the curve at the upper endof said inverted U-shap'ed hook and means for securing the fulcrumattachment to the wall ef receptacle in such a way that the portioncomprising the free end of the brace and th upper end of the invertedUshaped hook will both rest against the wall of the receptacle.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature ture.

LEVI LA NDK AMER.

